Mr. Write's Page

I’ve been a news junkie for, essentially, my entire life. The habit surfaced early, when I got old enough to be curious about, and have opinions about, what was going on in the world.

For a long time, I got my news from a variety of media — certain newspapers, news magazines, and news shows on radio and TV. Not that the source really mattered. In the old days, after you discounted the gossip magazines and garbage like the National Enquirer, journalism was journalism.

And I know whereof I speak. I understand the profession better than most. My college degree is in journalism. I spent most of my working life in the business.

Journalism, like science, medicine, law enforcement, and other fields, can be done properly or poorly. For decades, most American news operations performed as intended: they presented the news honestly and truthfully.

Most news organizations took pride in being non-biased. They reported the facts and told the truth, and when they found BS, they called BS.

Those were the years of the Watergate reporting, Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, and others. Those were years when my chosen profession made me proud.

Then, the game changed. With the rise of the 24-hour news channels came the need for a faster news flow. More and more airtime on the news channels was padded with whatever worked — frivolous stories, entertainment, celebrity news. Soon, this became the norm.

As competition in the business increased, stories were further sensationalized to attract viewers. News crawls and graphics took over the TV screen.

Then someone invented the concept of having two talking heads debate opposing views, which falsely implies that the views are of equal merit. This, too, became the norm.

While this was happening, the political right wing realized it could use a combination of advocacy journalism and propaganda to appeal to the frightened, gullible, easily-led conservative masses — and, not coincidentally, relieve them of money.

The result was Fox News. To the conservative base, Fox became, and still remains, the only source of information they trust.

Personally, I don’t and won’t watch Fox News, which is the literal embodiment of fake news. Fox is an insult to the news profession. I deleted it from my cable lineup years ago.

Which leads me to another branch of journalistic evolution: MSNBC.

In the opinion of most people, MSNBC simply is the opposite of Fox, the voice of the lefties. And the network does, indeed, have a liberal/progressive viewpoint.

But the thing is, folks, nine times out of 10, the liberal position is factual and correct. That’s reality.

MSNBC has its faults and biases, but it practices what you learn in journalism school: report the facts, tell the truth.

Four examples easily come to mind.

(1) MSNBC reports the liberal view that human-caused global warming is a real and present threat to Planet Earth (or, more specifically, to life on Planet Earth) because 95-plus percent of scientists — scientists! — are screaming that it’s true.

Fox and the conservatives deny that global warming is real. They dismiss science and the scientists. Really? When you claim to know more than the experts, you’re either stupid, a fool, or a shill for a profitable industry that contributes to global warming.

(2) U.S. military spending is now about $600 billion annually. $600 billion is equal to the annual military spending of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, the U.K., Japan, and Germany, combined.

MSNBC and the lefties conclude, correctly, that the U.S. military budget is obscenely bloated; that we already are capable of stomping any conceivable enemy 10 times over; that those billions are largely enriching defense contractors; and that the money could be used to solve a boatload of the country’s real problems.

Fox and the conservatives claim that our military is weak and ineffective, and the need is critical to boost military spending even further. It came to them in a fever dream.

(3) Consistently, MSNBC has supported the Democratic/progressive position that Obamacare was a modest first step toward better, cheaper healthcare for everyone, and it can be made better with the proper modifications and fine-tuning.

Fox and the conservatives staked out the position that Obamacare is evil incarnate and must be summarily exorcised. It’s a convenient, knee-jerk rationale for the Republicans, some who don’t believe healthcare is a human right, some who don’t want government involved in providing healthcare, and some who oppose it because Democrats are the enemy.

(4) MSNBC reports the liberal view that the concept of “voter fraud” is a fabricated, virtually non-existent threat, because, like, you know, the actual evidence proves it.

Fox and the conservatives insist that voter fraud is real, because it gives them an excuse to suppress voter registration and voter turnout when and where it favors Democrats.

In fairness, I’ll put it this way: the progressive view isn’t correct all of the time; just most of the time. Conversely, the conservative view isn’t wrong all of the time; just most of the time.

Which leads me to CNN and the news divisions of ABC, CBS, and NBC.

For starters, I give CNN bonus points because Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs are gone. On the other hand, CNN and the networks are straining hard to be viewed as “fair and balanced,” and they aren’t.

All four are guilty of, first, blending news and entertainment in pursuit of ratings and, second, giving bogus, laughable opinions equal airtime with the facts — with no caveat to identify the actual truth.

Their specialty, using “analysts” to discuss the news, is a joke. Professional operatives don’t analyze the news. They dissemble and distort issues in their favor, based on their chosen politics.

The only way a normal person can derive value from the input of such people is to sift through their comments, assess and weigh their prejudices, and try to separate the truth from the baloney.

If I analyze the comments of a “strategist” thusly, I may be able to discern a kernel of truth. But why should I have to do that?

This is where the news networks — all of them — fall short of practicing genuine, honest journalism. MSNBC does a reasonable job here, but the rest of them lack the will, or fortitude, to report the news honestly and factually. Instead, they present opposing political views, claim to be presenting both sides of an issue, and walk away.

Every news operation employs people who can be, if permitted, objective and professional. People who are quite capable of presenting and explaining the news with clarity and accuracy. Most of them would relish having that freedom.

Finally, a thought about public broadcasting.

Although Fox News and the conservatives have always hated PBS and NPR, and Republican lawmakers constantly scheme to defund both, public television and public radio are still alive.

PBS and NPR are still places where real reporters present real news. There is no fluff, no entertainment, no political hackery. With minor exceptions, the only analysis is done by historians. God bless public broadcasting.

And I sure wish He would get American journalism back on track, too.

Not long ago online, I found the mission statement below, dated 1963. It may be old and quaint, but the sentiment is inspiring.

Ironically, Milner’s newspaper is the Prince George Citizen, based in British Columbia.